Showing results by author "Ellis Peters" in All Categories

The year is 1142. England is in the iron grip of civil war, and within the sheltered cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the upheavals of the outside world. First, there is the sad demise of the Lord of Eaton, whose...

In the early twelfth century, civil war rages between the English and the Welsh. In the battle of Lincoln, the Welsh capture the sheriff of Shropshire and barter him for a young Welsh lord, who had been captured during a misguided assault on a convent. But before the exchange can be completed...

This collection of recordings about Brother Cadfaelóa Benedictine monk and amateur sleuth in the 12th centuryóare performed here by the ideal actor. Sir Derek Jacobi, who portrayed Cadfael in several television adaptations, captivates listeners with his renderings of Monk's Hood, Saint Peter's...

On a spring evening in 1140 Shrewsbury, the midnight matins at the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberate with an unholy sound—a hunt in full cry. Pursued by a drunken mob, the quarry is running for its life. When the frantic creature bursts in to claim sanctuary, Brother Cadfael finds himself...

A onetime Crusader turned Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael is a most unusual detective. Living a quiet life as a monastery herbalist, he spends his days ministering to his brothers using the medical skills he acquired in the Holy Lands—but his worldly knowledge and wide experience of human nature are frequently called upon when there is a murder to solve....

In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England's throne leaves a legacy of violence—and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. In the spring, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration of Saint Winifred at the Abbey, carrying with it many strange souls…and perhaps the...

Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the Abbey boasts the services of clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted by two very different surprises. In Master Bonel's wife, the good monk recognises Richildis, whom he loved many years ago before he took his vows. And Master Bonel has been fatally poisoned by a dose of deadly monk's-hood oil from Cadfael's herbarium.

In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden to the bloody battlefield. Not far from the safety of the Abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: 95 bodies lie in a row, and the extra corpse tells Cadfael that the killer is both clever and ruthless. But one death among so many seems unimportant to all but the good Benedictine.

In 1137 the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales, where they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics. Canny, wise and all too worldly, Cadfael isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself dealt the blow.

For centuries the Celts held sway in Europe. Even after their conquest by the Romans, their culture remained vigorous, ensuring that much of it endured to feed an endless fascination with Celtic history and myths, artwork and treasures. A foremost authority on the Celtic peoples and their culture, Peter Berresford Ellis presents an invigoration overview of their world. With his gift for making the scholarly accessible, he discusses the Celts' mysterious origins and early history and investigates their rich and complex society.

In summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maudhave temporarily exhausted each other. Brother Cadfael, herbalist-sleuth of Shrewsbury's Benedictine Abbey, agrees to accompany wise young Brother Mark on Church business in Wales. But the brothers soon find themselves caught up in yet another feud. A Welsh prince has banished his brother, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally, and the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Cadfael has to survive the brotherly quarrel that could plunge an entire kingdom into chaos.

Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. Yet as fate would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile...

While Brother Cadfael has bent Abbey rules, he has never broken his monastic vows—until now. Word has come to Shrewsbury of a treacherous act that has left 30 of Empress Maud's knights imprisoned during England's dynastic war between two grandchildren of William the Conqueror. All have been ransomed except Cadfael's secret son, Olivier. Conceived in Cadfael's soldiering youth and unaware of his father's identity, Olivier will die if he is not freed. Cadfael is determined to find him but must leave the monastery without his abbot's blessing.

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never...

It's Christmas, and a local visiting dignitary suddenly takes ill immediately following his decision to bequeath his manorial estate to the abbey. Luckily, the abbey boasts the services of the herbalist Brother Cadfael, who hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted with two surprises: the man's wife is Richildis—whom Cadfael loved before he took his vows—and the poison is monk's-hood oil from Cadfael's stores. Using his knowledge of both herbs and the human heart, Cadfael deciphers a deadly recipe for murder.

The winter of 1139 will disrupt Brother Cadfael's tranquil life in Shrewsbury with the most disturbing events. Raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two orphans from a noble family, a boy of thirteen and an 18-year-old girl of great beauty, and their companion, a young Benedictine nun...

In the summer of 1139, there is a pause in the civil war racking the country. St. Peter's Fair attracts merchants from across England and beyond, promising to bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury—that is, until the dead body of a wealthy merchant is found in the river Severn. Brother Cadfael offers to help the merchant's lovely niece uncover the murderer, but as he searches for the killer, the merchant's wares are ransacked and two more men are murdered. 

Christmas, AD 1141 Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in...

During the ploughing of the Potter's Field, the Brothers unearth the grisly remains of a woman's body. Rumors had it that the wild, beautiful Welsh woman had gone away with a lover, returning to her homeland, but now it seems as if she had been murdered. With the arrival of a young monk fleeing from the devastating civil war in East Anglia, the mysteries surrounding the corpse start to multiply. Uneasiness pushes Brother Cadfael to find the whole truth behind this unexpected discovery, piecing together cryptic clues to solve a baffling crime.

St. Peter’s Fair was a grand event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. With the pause in the Civil War during the summer of 1139, the fair would bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury. But a wealthy merchant is found murdered in the river Severn. Brother Cadfael offers...